Netwealth tops the platforms ratings

Netwealth has taken the top spot for platform functionality in the Investment Trends sector survey for the third consecutive year.

According to the 2017 Platform Benchmarking and Competitive Analysis Report, the top five full-function platforms are Netwealth, HUB24, OneVue, CFS FirstWrap and Asgard eWrap.

Macquarie Wrap fell out of the top five.

Netwealth has an estimated 1.8 per cent share of the $774 billion platform market but around 19 per cent of new business flows.

King Loong Choi, a senior analyst at Investment Trends, said: “Netwealth and HUB24 stand out for their reporting, online business management and decision support tools.

“The strength of OneVue revolves around its reporting and product offerings, while CFS FirstWrap holds a competitive edge with its online business management tools.”

Choi said the main improvements last year related to a wider range of managed account structures, models and managers, with improvements to model manager portals and easier in-specie transfer processes.

“In addition, platforms like HUB24, Netwealth and OneVue have recently introduced the ability for advisers to generate records of advice on the platforms, creating greater efficiencies in the advice delivery process.

“Advisers want the next generation of platforms to play a greater role in advice delivery, and leading platforms have risen to the challenge,” Choi said.

Another area of development was cyber security. A significant number of advisers have reported receiving fraudulent withdrawal requests.

“Platforms are responding to this growing risk and have taken steps to boost cyber security,” Choi said.

“While nearly all platforms currently send alerts to clients when a withdrawal request is made, or when their bank account details are updated, some platforms have taken security to the next level with client validation of withdrawal requests.”